Dead Rising: Case Equestria
by YingoShabuki
Summary: After Spike, a reporter who's down on his luck, is thrown into a familiar situation, can he overcome the obstacles and hardships, and put himself back in the limelight? Rainbow Dash, a star athlete competing in the competition of a lifetime. A horrible disaster at the event places the blame on her, can she figure out what's really going on, while protecting her family and friends?
1. Spike's Prologue

Hello there everybody YingoShabuki here with another story for you all! This time it's a crossover of Dead Rising and My Little Pony! So yeah! Enjoy the prologues that I'm posting up, and more updates will soon follow!

"Spike don't you think you've had enough yet?" Pony Joe, the manager of the local diner aptly named "Pony Joe's Diner," worriedly asked his customer as he surveyed the mess before him. Mugs, once housing a delicious brew of hot chocolate, now lay in piles on the floor, strewn about the table, and evidence of donuts with extra sprinkles lay randomly splayed across the diner. "_This,_" Joe inwardly sighed, "_is definitely going too far._" Taking a deep breath, he prepared to confront his best, although currently messiest customer, Spike the dragon. Spike had always been a regular of Joe's, and as such any rowdy behavior from him was usually tolerated more so than other customers. However, Joe had had enough this night, he couldn't stand to see his loyal customer and friend in such a sorry state as he was.

"Enough? What the _hay_ are you talking about Joe?" Spike spat harshly. Joe simply shook his head at the dragon in front of him, who would have looked nice considering he was wearing a suit that one would wear on the job, namely, a reporting job. However, tonight Spike may as well have been some random bum off the street. His suit littered with donut and hot chocolate stains and his eyes carrying a dull look. "I'll _hic_ tell you when I...I's" Spike slurred as if inebriated.

"Cut the act Spike, I don't even serve any alcohol here, and if I did you're still a minor anyways." Joe replied unfazed by the display.

"Oh come on man!" Spike sighed, snapping back to a sober state in an instant. "Can't you just at least let me pretend to act drunk? Just for the sake of my life?" Spike pleaded to his "bartender."

"Nope!" Joe said, "It'll be bad for business if my customers come in and see a baby-"

"_I'm not a baby..._" Spike grumbled to himself.

"-dragon who's drunk, admittedly pretending." Joe said, ignoring Spike's words.

"Dude can you just get me another donut, heavy on the sprinkles?" Spike asked, tired of the lecture. "Oh and another thing man-" he cut off as he drank his hot chocolate all in one gulp, "-gimme another hot chocolate."

"No Spike!" Joe replied, not budging.

"_What_ did you say?" Spike asked, his calm demeanor slowly growing angry.

"Spike, listen man, this is bad even for you!" Pony Joe said exasperated. "I mean I've seen you come here on a bad day and take 3-4 donuts and a couple mugs of coffee, but _this_" he gestured to the pile of mugs and sprinkles, which now reached the bottom of the stool Spike sat on, "this is just ridiculous! Come on buddy, what's eatin' ya'?" He said, switching from frustrated to a worried tone of voice. Suddenly, the radio Joe had, which had previously been playing a news broad cast, suddenly switched to a song called "Halfway Dead." It had always been one of Spike's favorites on a rainy day, but right now Spike felt more relation to it than ever before.

"It was my job Joe," Spike solemnly said.

"Huh?" Joe said, surprised by the sudden reply.

"The reason I'm like this, I got fired..." Spike said.

"Is that it?" Joe asked, giving a sigh of relief, as he went to comfort Spike "Well there'll always be other job out there man! You'll see, I bet with your skills you'l-"

"NO MAN!" Spike cried out in frustration, startling Pony Joe. "You don't understand, I'm not sad because I was fired..." He said in a much quieter voice, leaving Joe to wonder.

"So then what happened?" Joe asked in curiosity.

"It was about a month ago," Spike said, recalling the story he was about to tell... "I had been freelancing as a photographer for the news team 'The Canterlot Express' which had been detailing the outbreak at Fillymette, and they wanted to use the pictures I had taken during my time there. Things were great, I had money, fame, fortune, everything..." Spike gave a small smile, which immediately changed to a frown. "Then...I let things get to me, I had heard rumors of people saying my shots were fake, and that they had been staged. They said 'how could a _baby_ dragon do all of that?' Well, when somepony makes fun of my work...I take it to heart. I said things that were out of line, and that lead to my decline in reputation. People didn't even want my photos of anything after that..." Spike said, dejection filling his voice. "I lived on what was left of my finances in a ratty apartment until I couldn't even pay rent, and then, after the landlord kicked me out, I came here." Spike said sadly, as he remembered the lonely walk to Canterlot, not even having enough bits for a train ticket.

"But what about Twilight and the others? Surely they would have come to your aid in your time of need?" He said, baffled by his notion.

"That's just it!" Spike replied in frustration, "I went to their houses in Ponyville, looked everywhere, but the whole town is deserted!"

"Hm... maybe they all went up to Las Pegasus to see Rainbow Dash perform?" Joe speculated on the situation.

"Probably," Spike said agreeing, "after all, she is one of the best fliers out there, so it's only natural that she'd be in that performance, and also naturally I'd expect my friends to cheer her on from there." Spike rationalized with a sigh.

Suddenly, the song on the radio cut off and was replaced by an announcer's voice. "Breaking news!" The mare on the station said quite calmly, despite the announcement's urgency, "Another outbreak has started in Las Pegasus, coming from an unknown source in the Pegasium. More information to come as reported." The mare finished.

(Pause music 10 from Dead Rising 2: Off the Record)

"Zombies, in Las Pegasus?" Joe uttered, obviously shocked by what he has just heard.

"Oh no" Spike said to himself, remembering how all the ponies at Fillymette had become zomponies. "no no no no_NO_! It can't be happening again...not there, where my friends are!" He said, wishing this all to be a bad dream.

"Well Spike, what are you going to do about this?" Joe asked.

Startled, Spike replied "what do you mean?"

"Well" Joe explained, "the way I see it, not only do you have to make sure your friends are ok, but now I think you've got your next big story." He said with a grin.

"You know Joe," Spike said, an equally large grin growing on his face, "I think you've just gave my hopeless situation a good dose of much needed hope!"

"Well good luck Spike! Just don't go getting yourself killed for a story though, and make sure your friends are safe!" Joe said with a hint of hesitancy about Spike's task.

"Don't worry Joe," Spike said, putting on his shades that were remarkably similar to Rainbow Dash's, "I've covered wars you know."


	2. Rainbow Dash's Prologue

Earlier that same day, miles away in Las Pegasus, Rainbow Dash had been participating in a new competition that pitted the best fliers from all across equestria in trials that tested stamina, strength, agility, and cunning. Rainbow Dash of course, being one of the most well known ponies that was legendary in these aspects, was naturally asked to perform in this event. It was being held in the massive arena known as the Pegasium, a complex that could seat over 100,000 ponies in one quarter section alone. Rainbow was a bit shocked, and also a bit unnerved by the sheer mention of these numbers, but she assured her friends that she'd be "20% cooler than all the rest of those pegasi out there!"

"_Oh man, I can't believe in five minutes I'm actually going to do this!_" She thought with a mixture of excitement and fear. She knew that this competition would be tough, and the competitors tougher. In fact, she had found out that two of her idols, Spitfire and Soarin, had also been entered in the competition. She was practically shaking from the nerves of having to go against two ponies she honored so much, but she was determined to take first place. "After all," she said to herself, "I did promise my friends that I'd come out on top, and what better way to show off my element of loyalty than keeping a promise?"

"Rainbow Dash, you're on in three minutes!" A stage hand called from behind her.

"_Three minutes...alright right, three minutes...three minutes before I go out there and rock this thing! ...Or before I get pulverized by the Wonderbolts...NO! I can't think like that!_" Rainbow Dash thought with a sigh. She knew that she always had these bouts with pre-match jitters, but over time, with the help of her friends she had gotten better about them. Of course, that didn't mean she still didn't feel a bit scared, though she'd never openly admit it.

"Alright Rainbow, you're on! GO GO GO!" The stage hand prompted her.

"Alright here it goes!" She thought, her nerves getting to their most powerful stage as she sprinted towards the door before taking a leap into the air before taking a gasp of amazement at the sight her eyes beheld. "I don't believe it!" She yelled in amazement as she saw the arena from above. She knew that it was big from the ground, but had never quite thought it'd be _this_ big! It was then that the crowd's cheers drew her attention to the other side of the arena, where she saw that Soarin and Spitfire had entered the match. "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMY GOSH!" She squealed inwardly at the sight of them. However, after the initial excitement passed, she felt her nerves return, and it took all her willpower to not faint at the sight of them.

"Go Rainbow Dash! You can do it!" She heard an all too familiar voice cheer from below her. Hearing the voice, she felt all her confidence restored as she caught sight of where her friends were sitting. Applejack and Applebloom were hollering happily at the sight of her, while Pinkie Pie was giddily hopping up and down in her seat while cheering her on. Fluttershy of course was doing her best to cheer, but of course being the quiet soul she was barely audible up close, but Rainbow knew she was trying her best to cheer. Twilight of course was smiling and waving to her while taking in all the sights and sounds of the colesium. Rarity of course, was clapping and cheering, while still maintaining her aura of a "proper lady" as she called it. Sweetie Belle however was cheering just as loudly as Applejack and Applebloom, not being quite as refined as her sister. Rainbow smiled warmly at the sight of all of them, and her smile only grew at the sight of _her_.

"Good ol' Scootaloo," She thought happily at the sight of her sister, "she never fails to pick me up when I'm down!" She then felt her energy restored as she flapped her wings to gain speed. She did notice however that one more contestant had entered, one that she'd seen, but never expected to see _here_! "DERPY? SHE'S HERE?" She thought bewildered as she had never thought that the clumsy wall-eyed pegasus would have qualified for the event. Then she shook her head, focusing on the competition that was to come as all of the fliers came in front of the main stage near the front of the arena. All of a sudden, the arena went dark as a spotlight lit up the positions of each of the contestants, the crowd in more of an uproar than ever. Suddenly, multicolored pyrotechnics lit up the stage.

"Ooo pretty! I should use those sometime!" Pinkie Pie said with glee from behind Rainbow.

"_Heh, typical Pinkie Pie!_" Rainbow said chuckling as the crowd's cheers came to a close.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice rang out. "Welcome to the showdown of the century where fliers from across the nation come to compete! It's the AERO BLAST GRAND-PRIX! With your host, PRINCE BLUEBLOOD!" The voice shouted as the prince's figure was suddenly made known. Rainbow grimaced at the sight of the prince. She had never really liked him to begin with, but the fact that he had mistreated Rarity at the Grand Galloping Gala just made her dislike him all the more. "However," the prince continued, "what would a host be without his lovely mare assistants? That's right! Nothing! So give it up for the beautiful spa-managers Aloe and Vera!" Rainbow rolled her eyes at the mention of those two. In her eyes they weren't really all that great, but few knew that her dislike came from the incident where they had accidentally questioned her position on mares. Rainbow of course took offense to this, for she had never liked those types of mislead assumptions just because of her personality, or worse, the color of her hair.

"Oh wow the prince is looking _great_!" One mare in the crowd declared as several other mares agreed with her. Rarity of course, had to stifle a chuckle as she had once thought the same thing. "_Oh dear! I do hope that Rainbow Dash will do alright,_" she thought anxiously,"_she did seem a bit nervous at first!_"

"Alright Equestria, it's time begin this competition of the ages, so let's here you SHOUT!" The prince said as the crowd obliged, cheering quite loudly. Rainbow of course, looked around at her opponents and saw Derpy right next to her.

"Hey Derpy how's it going?" She asked trying to ignore the rambling prince.

"Oh hiya Rainbow Dash!" Derpy replied, grinning happily as she turned, but her eyes not quite focusing properly as usual. "I'm doing pretty well myself, just glad to be here! It looks pretty fun huh?"

"Definitely!" Rainbow agreed heartily. "So how's Dinky doing?"

"Oh she's actually here right now, I think she was trying to find Fluttershy and the others!" Derpy smiled at the mention of her daughter. Rainbow turned around, and indeed she found Dinky Doo waving in their direction, no doubt cheering for her mother.

"Well that's great! Good luck to ya Derpy!" Rainbow said as she shook her competitor's hoof.

"Hey thanks Rainbow Dash! Good luck to you too!" The wall-eyed pegasus said returning the gesture happily.

By this time Prince Blueblood was announcing the first competition. An obstacle course. However, this course was featuring quite the amount of dangerous items. A list of these included flaming hoops, spiked balls, brick walls that moved up and down, and worst of all, a gigantic storm cloud in the very center, which was shooting out sparks. Rainbow gulped as she saw what lay ahead of her, but was determined to do her best, if nothing else for her friends's sakes.

"Alright, you daring fliers!" Prince Blueblood announced, "In this event you will be timed, having to pass all the obstacles and getting to the other end of the course. Once there, you'll go and grab the ring and throw it in the target at the center of the storm cloud. The winner will be the fastest one to complete the course." Once Blueblood was finished announcing the rules he drew ballots on who would go first. It turns out that the order would be Soarin, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, and finally Derpy. The Wonderbolts, true to their name, finished with fast times being 2:53.23 and 2:53.34 respectively. Finally, it was Rainbow Dash's turn to try the course, and as she waited for the countdown she took a deep breath to get in her zone.

"Alright, get ready!" Blueblood called out. "10! 9! 8!" Rainbow felt a bead of sweat rolling down here face. "7! 6! 5!" Rainbow felt her heartrate begin to increase rapidly. "4! 3! 2!" Suddenly, she took a look at Scootaloo, "1!" And she shared a look, and she became completely determined. "GO!" Blueblood yelled as Rainbow Dash rocketed forward, dodging through each hoop, each ball, each obstacle with the utmost grace and agility. Finally, she had made it to the other side of the course, with a record breaking time of 1:57.32 seconds!

"_No time to take a break._" She thought to herself. "If I want to solidify a lead I've got to keep going!" As she grabbed the ring her teeth she rocketed back towards the storm cloud, and with a streak of rainbow she entered the thunderhead. "_Man I can't even see in here!_" She thought panicking, but luckily managed to spot the target in time. She raced for it, but as she was about to reach it a lightning bolt struck her, making her cry out in pain, and soon she fell unconscious as she spiraled towards the ground. The crowd gasped at this sight, and Scootaloo cried out to her sister.

"Rainbow Dash! No! Get up! You _have_ to!" She said almost about to sob with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "Please! You've just gotta be ok..."

Meanwhile, in Rainbow Dash's mind, she could only feel the air rushing past her as she was berating herself for getting so careless. "Dang it! How could I have done that? Now I've gone and lost the first match!" She said sadly, thinking of how disappointed her friends would be in her.

"Rainbow Dash...Get up!" She heard a voice rang out in the dark, slowly bringing her back to reality.

"Scootaloo?" She whispered

"Please! You've just gotta be ok..." The voice said full of worry.

"..." Rainbow said nothing as she heard those words, but then she felt herself come to and realize that she was nearing the ground. "Oh hay no!" She cried out as she suddenly grabbed hold of the ring in her teeth once again and soared back up in an arc. The crowd cheered and her friends sighed in relief as they saw her recover. Rainbow took a quick glance at the clock and found out that she had 10 seconds left to beat the previous times. "_Darn! The target is too far away to get to in time...unless..._" She thought realizing there was only one way to come out of this situation on top. She'd have to do a Sonic Rainboom. "_Here goes!_" She thought as she gained more and more speed, the air resistance slapping her in the face. She almost lost ahold of the ring, but managed to keep a grip on it. Then, as she felt a wall air pushing her back, she finally broke through as a boom rang out behind her and launched her forward. She then threw the ring down as she passed the target and successfully hit it. The crowd roared in approval as they saw what she had done, and Rainbow Dash slowly came to a halt, panting as she took a look at the clock. It read 2:52.59. She had done it.

"Yeah Rainbow! I knew you could do it!" Scootaloo yelled at the top of her lungs full of joy and excitement.

"Rainbow Dash that was mighty fine if ah do say so mahself!" Applejack said whistling in approval.

"Most splendid performance Rainbow!" Rarity said clapping for her friend.

"YEAH RAINBOW YOU DID IT!" Yelled...Fluttershy? As all of her friends stared in shock at her momentary outburst. "Oops, I mean, you rock! Woohoo!" She said turning red from embarrassment.

Rainbow Dash smiled in satisfaction as she saw Derpy preparing for her turn. She felt worried for her friend though, she could get hurt, after all she wasn't the most coordinated pony out there. However, Derpy impressed her and everyone else by not only making it through the course, but making it in at 2:54.34, a time just behind Spitfire herself. "Maybe she's not as bad at flying as I thought." Rainbow said giving a pony shrug.

The next 8 challenges went by smoothly, Spitfire managed to win 3 challenges, Soarin won 2, Rainbow Dash won 2 more as well, and Derpy managed to win a challenge too, much to the surprise of everyone there. However, just as the final challenge was about to start, things got...out of hand...

[POV: Scootaloo First Person]

In my eyes the day couldn't have gone any better! My hero and adopted sister, Rainbow Dash, got to compete in one of the biggest flying competitions in the land, against the Wonderbolts no less! She truly was the most awesome pegasus in my eyes. However, as I was watching the competition I noticed that a pony behind me was complaining about a wasp sting she had gotten, but I ignored it and went back to cheering on Rainbow Dash. Later though, as the final challenge was about to start, I heard a scream in the stands behind me. I turned around and saw the same pony who had talked earlier actually _biting into some pony_! I thought she was pulling some kind of sick joke on her friend, but as I looked in her eyes they looked...animalistic, and hungry... Soon I saw that she wasn't the only one like that, because more ponies like her trudged out of our section's entrance tunnel, and soon I saw the ones that came out begin to attack other people as well. As soon as I got over the shock of seeing such a thing, I did the only thing I could do. I screamed.

[POV: Normal]

"Scootaloo!" Rainbow thought frantically as she heard her sister yell out as if terrified by seeing something. She looked down and saw a horrible sight. Ponies were actually _eating_ one another in some kind of twisted beastlike fashion. "What the hay is going on down there?" She thought fearfully as she rocketed down to help her friends, seeing Soarin and Spitfire going to help random ponies out. She saw ponies who weren't attacking scattering in all directions as the stadium became a state of chaos that even Discord himself would be proud of.

"Dinky! Hold on!" She heard Derpy yell to her left. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her fellow pegasus go towards her daughter, who was running in terror from the rabid ponies.

"Quick ya'll!" AppleJack yelled out, gaining the attention of her friends and a few other ponies nearby. "They said that there's a safe room that way!" She pointed in the direction of the tunnel of the Pegasium's entrance. "Let's move!" She called out as she began running with Applebloom, with the others following just as quickly. Finally, the door to the safehouse was inside, and they were all inside while Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo at the back of the group keeping watch. However, just as Scootaloo was about to make it to the stairs leading down to the room. She tripped and fell to the ground.

"Rainbow Dash help me!" She yelled as she saw a pony with the strange eyes moving closer and closer. She found herself struggling to get up, her legs becoming like jelly as fear overtook her mind. The pony then lunged for her and managed to grab her leg in its teeth.

"NO! SCOOTALOO!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she saw her sister get bitten by that thing. She rushed over as fast as she could, arriving to help in no more than a second. "Go eat someone else freakbag!" Rainbow yelled in fury as she rammed the hostile pony off of her sister. "Scootaloo? Are you ok?" She asked, almost in tears.

"I'm fine thanks to you sis." Scootaloo said softly, visibly shaken. "He just got my leg!" She said gesturing to her leg, which had a nasty bite mark on it.

"_Oh no! Please don't tell me..._" She thought fearing the worst. "_She can't turn into one of those...things!_"

"Rainbow Dash look out!" Scootaloo yelled, breaking the cyan pegasus out of her thoughts. She swiveled around, only to meet the same pony that had attacked her sister lunging for her. She had no time to dodge as the pony tackled her to the ground.

"Scootaloo run!" Rainbow Dash yelled out, fearing for her sister as she tried to squirm out of the pony's grip.

"But-"

"No buts! Just go!" Rainbow yelled with a sad look in her eyes. Scootaloo sobbing as she ran to the safe room. She then turned her full attention on the pony, who was closing in to bite her. She closed her eyes as she thought, "_well I guess this is it, so much for being the most hardy out of the group huh?_" She thought grimly as she prepared for the bite, but no bite came. "But how?" She said opening her as as she heard the thwack of wood hitting flesh.

"Well Rainbow Dash I thought you would've been the _last_ one to go out like this?" A voice, one that she found all too familiar, chuckled.

"_Huh_?" Rainbow Dash thought bewildered at she turned and found the source of the voice, her mouth dropping open at the sight of who it was. "S-Spike?" She said almost failing to believe what was happening.

"The one and only!" He said with a smirk.


	3. Case 0-1: Explanations

"Well Rainbow Dash I thought you would've been the last one to go out like this?" A voice, one that she found all too familiar, chuckled.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash thought bewildered at she turned and found the source of the voice, her mouth dropping open at the sight of who it was. "S-Spike?" She said almost failing to believe what was happening.

"The one and only!" He said with a smirk.

"B-But how? Twilight, actually nopony has heard from you in years! Where have you been?!" Rainbow Dash inquired, still having an amazed look etched onto her face.

"No time for explanations right now Dash, we gotta move before more of those things show up!" Spike said as he ushered Rainbow into the safe room. As soon as they got past the two sets of doors they found the other five in their group of friends, plus the Cutie Mark Crusaders, anxiously awaiting their arrival. As soon as Rainbow walked into the room Scootaloo, who looked as if she had been in tears, burst into a look of joy and ran up to Rainbow Dash excitedly, hugging her leg with all her strength.

"Oh Rainbow Dash you made it! I wasn't sure if you were gonna be ok!" Scootaloo said snuggling further into Rainbow's leg.

"Heh, come on kid you know it'd take more than one of...whatever those are to keep a pegasus as awesome as me down!" She said as she gave her joyous sister a quick, but affectionate nuzzle. However, as everypony in the room was smiling at the warm sight in front of them, Spike cleared his throat while stepping out from behind Rainbow Dash.

"Heh, hey guys. How's everypony been?" He said giving a casual wave. However, he received no response as all the others, except Rainbow Dash, gave him a look of bewilderment, shock, or relief at the sight of seeing him after all this time. Twilight however, gave no look of response as she simply stared at him without saying anything. Pinkie Pie was naturally the first to recover as she began to bounce around Spike giddily while chattering non-stop about how they would have to throw him a "Thought you were lost but came back after a very very long time" party. Fluttershy was next as she flew up to Spike and gave him a quick hug and saying she was glad to have him back. Applejack simply tilted her hat while smiling and saying welcome back to Spike, but one could see that she was just as happy as the rest of the group. Rarity was next as she gave Spike a hug, that he very much enjoyed of course, and saying how she missed "her little gentledrake Spikey Wikey." The trio of Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all dogpiled on Spike as all four of them laughed, having missed the time they had spent running around Ponyville in the good old days. Twilight however, still gave no reaction as she sported an emotionless look. Spike saw this and smiled, walking up to greet her.

"Hey Twilight, how've you been all this time?" He asked with a warm smile on his face.

"How have I been?" She asked as if confused by the question. "**HOW HAVE I**_**BEEN**_?" She shouted, startling everypony as her face suddenly contorting into a look of pure rage. "Just let me tell _you_ 'how've I've been' mister!" She said snapping at Spike.

"Woah Twilight, calm down now-" Spike said with a scared look on his face.

"**CALM DOWN?!**" Twilight said cutting him off. "You've been gone for years on end without so much as a single letter, leaving me to worry day after day if my number one assistant was ok, and then you show up without so much as a warning and you expect me to _**CALM DOWN**_?!" She said, practically shrieking in Spike's face.

"Well when you put it that way maybe I did mess up there." Spike said, weighed down by his guilt as he shifted uneasily.

"Yeah, you think?" Twilight retorted sarcastically.

"Twilight come on! I know I messed up but please just let me explain!" He pleaded.

"...Fine, let's hear it!" She said, but then warned, "Just don't think I'm not still angry with you though! We're definitely not done with this!"

"_Phew! Glad that's over!_" Spike thought in relief as he prepared to recount his memories of the past few years.

_Well,_ he began as he delved into his memories, _after I had told Twilight about my new job as a reporter, and left Ponyville, I did keep in touch for a while. The job started off pretty easily, with me doing nature shots, scenery takes, and photo shoots for some well known ponies._ He sighed as he recalled the next part. _Then...then it got to the part where I actually went into other places, such as Neighpon, Manehatten, Baltomare, even other species's nations like the griffons and dragons. That was the point I couldn't keep in contact anymore, because if the beings of those nations even caught a single letter being sent, magically or no, it'd compromise my position and risk everyone in Ponyville's, heck maybe even Equestria's safety._ He said, shuddering to think of the possible outcomes. _Anyways, a couple of months after those jobs, I had heard of something happening, I didn't know what it was, but it was something big going down, and it was definitely fishy. I didn't know it at the time, but it would be one of the most horrific events I would ever endure, and one of the saddest._ Spike stopped as he bore a solemn look. After a few minutes of silence Applejack took a gamble.

"What happened?" She asked, seeing his countenance take a saturnine look. Spike sighed, knowing he had to continue on with the tale.

"It was the Fillymette outbreak," he said.

"Fillymette? But that's just a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere!" Rarity said in confusion. "Just what kind of outbreak could've happened there, and why didn't anybody stop it?"

"That's just it," Spike said, "nobody expected as small a town as that to have _anything_ happen, and that's why the officials were caught off guard. As for what kind...well..." he didn't say anything as he gestured to the outside. Everypony else gasped as they realized what he had implied. Spike then continued on with the story,

_It had started out just like any other job, a pegasus flew me into the town initially, and I told him it might take a couple of days to wrap the story up. However, nothing could have prepared me for what happened there._ His eyes watered slightly as he began to tear up. _**Nothing**__could have prepared me for all the violence, the death, the tragedy of what had befallen that town. I saw good ponies, who deserved none of what they got, fall prey to those creatures out there, ponies just like you all, who wanted nothing more than to fulfill their special talent for the rest of their lives. I saw hearts broken as families had to repeatedly face one of their own that had gotten infected by those blasted zomponies._ He said now struggling to hold back sobs. _It was horrible, but I knew I had to cover the outbreak for their sakes, and luckily I managed to do it._ He said managing a small smile.

Of course, throughout this story all of the mares that had been listening had been crying listening to him speak, even Rainbow Dash, who normally blanched at such behavior, and poor Pinkie Pie, she had fallen into a state of sadness that had deflated her normally poofy mane and made her gain a duller shade of pink. Applejack had taken off her trusty stetson, clutching it in her forehooves as she wiped her eyes with it. Fluttershy was doing her best to not breakdown completely, while Rarity supported her with a sad, but reassuring look. Twilight was also reduced to tears, but managed to speak.

"But why?" Twilight asked, choking back a sob, "Why in Equestria would something like this happen?"

"Why?" Spiked laughed bitterly. "Because of some grudge held by a crazed pony. I couldn't believe it myself, but I made sure he got put behind bars, permanently."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that." Applejack said, "No matter what happened to him before, no pony can justify an act like that!"

"Yeah, but hey come on guys, what's done is done." Spike said trying to break them out of their tears. "Right now we need to focus on what we can do right now! There's not any point in moping when we have to make sure you guys are safe!" His words seemed to have a positive impact as everyone began to wipe their tears away and go back to a relatively calm mood. After everyone got settled, Twilight figured that they should tell the Princesses about what was happening, and Spike seemed to get in a nostalgic mood as he sent the letter using his fire breath. The letter surprisingly got a reply relatively quickly.

"Hm..." Twilight said as she read the letter. "It says here that the Royal guard will be here in 3 days at the minimum due to the uproar around Canterlot."

"Well then, ah suppose all there is left tah do is wait here." Applejack concluded.

"Uh sis..." Applebloom said in a tone filled with fear.

"What is it Bloom?" Applejack said seeing her sister's worried look.

"It's Scootaloo!" Applebloom said, "Ah don't know what's wrong with her!"

"What!" At this statement Rainbow Dash had rushed over to her sister, and gasped when she saw Scootaloo curled up in the fetal position. At the sight of her sister, the filly curled up to her older sister for security.

"Rainbow Dash...I don't...feel so good." She whispered, pain evident in her voice.

"_Oh no! Not now!_" Rainbow Dash thought.

"What's wrong with her?" Spike inquired. Rainbow took him and Applejack aside as she didn't want the fillies to hear this.

"Spike, on our way in, she got bitten by one of those zompony things!" She said, doing her best not to break down.

"Oh no!" Applejack said in a hushed voice. "Ya don't mean..."

"Yeah, she might...turn..." Rainbow struggled with the notion.

"No! She won't." Spike said, causing the mares to give him a confused look.

"What do you mean?" They both asked.

"Well, you see, I saw a poster for Ponybrex on the way in here." Spike explained.

"Ponybrex?" They both echoed.

"Yeah, it's a suppressant to the parasite that makes the ponies turn into zomponies. I didn't think it would have reached sales here thought but huh, go figure!" He said, making the other two get a hopeful look.

"So if we give it to Scootaloo, then...will she..." Rainbow tried to phrase her words carefully.

"Well, unfortunately, she won't be cured, because the drug is merely a suppressant to the parasite, but it'll be held at bay for 24 hours." At this information Rainbow Dash's smile fell a little bit. "However," he continued, "if we manage to find a steady supply at least until we get out of here, we can see about getting a full from somewhere I'm sure!" He said trying to reassure Rainbow Dash.

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but where do ya'll think ya'll can get some of that stuff?" Applejack said thinking. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared in the midst of them, startling them and making them jump back in surprise.

"Did I hear you guys needed to find some stuff?" She said as cheerfully as ever.

"Pinkie, we were whispering how did you- oh never mind. Yeah we are looking for something." Spike sighed, deciding to let Pinkie just be herself, however enigmatic that may have been.

"Well that's good, because my Pinkie sense was going crazy when I looked at the map of this place!" She chirped happily.

"Wait, where did it go crazy at?" Rainbow Dash asked urgently. She knew that she and Twilight had not always been the most trusting of Pinkie's Pinkie sense, but it was the only lead they had to go on.

"It went crazy when I looked at this pharmacy over here!" She said pointing to a spot on the map.

"Hm," Spike mused as he studied the map intently, "it seems to be on the other side of the plaza that we're right next to!"

"Question though, how long does Scootaloo have before she..." Rainbow said, struggling to cope with the dreaded possibility. Applejack gave her a look of sympathy being an older sibling herself.

"Hm...well I only saw one bite on her, so at the minimum I'd say about 2 hours, so we should make it in time if we hoof it!" Spike said, chuckling at his pun.

"Alright...but how the hay are ya'll gonna get out of here without letting any of those darned zomponies in?" Applejack said not wanting her sister to be at risk.

Twilight had been listening in on their conversation and walked over to them. "Guys," she said gaining ahold of their attention, "there's a vent system that leads out in the direction you want to go. If you head through there it should give you time to spare to go there and back here."

"Thanks Twilight!" Rainbow said gratefully, "but I thought you didn't believe in Pinkie sense?"

"Well, I don't really," Twilight said in confirmation, "but right now it's all we have to go on, speaking of which you guys should get a move on." With this, she led them outside the room they were in and showed them the vent ducts. "Oh by the way before you head out, take these." She said handing them each a turquoise colored stone as she explained. "These go in your ears, they'll let us talk back and forth to allow me to update you on things that are happening while also letting you tell me what you see going on!"

"Thanks Twilight!" Spike said hugging his former employer. "You know, I really missed having you around!" He said with a grin. Twilight smiled at this and rolled her eyes.

"Spike...just be careful out there," she said taking on a soft tone, "I don't want to think I've lost you again."

"No worries Twilight! I've dealt with these things before!" He said taking on a confident smirk.

"Hey guys sorry to cut the sappy moment, well not really, but can we go now?" Rainbow interjected. Spike and Twilight shrugged as Spike climbed into the vent with Rainbow Dash and started to crawl. It took a couple of minutes of crawling in the dark, but eventually they managed to find the way out and into what looked like a maintenance area of a...

"Mall?" Rainbow said baffled. "They have an entire mall in front of the arena?"

"I'd say it's because they wanted a big gift shop but then that would be ridiculous." Spike joked.

"Heh yeah," Rainbow said chuckling a bit, "come on though, we gotta get moving!" she said trotting off towards a set of stairs in the distance. Spike matched her pace as they passed a room that flashed a blue "maintenance" sign above the door, and another door that just had some construction supplies in it. Finally they came to a set of double doors.

"Well, this is it!" Rainbow said, bracing herself for what lied ahead. "Ready to do this Spike?" She grinned and asked her companion.

"Of course I am!" Spike fired back with a grin. They both took a deep breath as they pushed open the doors, and immediately groaned.

"That..." Rainbow said her voice a little shaky at the sight of the sea of pony based abominations before them, "is a lot of zomponies..." She searched the crowd before giving an amazed look, "there's gotta be at least 100 here, and only two of us!"

"Heh..." Spike said with a grin, putting on his shades as he brandished a baseball bat. "How unfair for them."


	4. Case 0-2: Shop N' Go

"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Rainbow Dash cried out, panting from exhaustion, "how many of these zomponies_are_ there?" She said as she used her recently acquired MMA Hoof gloves to beat another zompony down.

"Well," Spike responded as he swung his baseball bat at the nearest zompony, knocking it away, "since there was bound to be a lot of people in the Pegasium at the time I'd say-"

"It was _rhetorical_ Spike!" Rainbow said, growling in frustration.

"Sorry," he responded dejectedly. Rainbow shook her head at this, not meaning to hurt her friend in such a way. Suddenly Rainbow's ears perked up as Spike suddenly chimed in. "Hey look! I think think that's it!" He said pointing to a store in front of them called "Pony Mart Rx: Pharmacy and Groceries."

"_**Finally**_!" Rainbow cheered as she fell on the ground happily in front of their destination, "I thought we'd never get here!"

"Well come on!" Spike chuckled at his friend's antics, "we still have to get the Ponybrex from inside, we have about..." he paused as he checked his watch, "an hour and fifteen minutes! Hey that's time to spare!" He said cheerfully.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow said as she hopped back to her hooves. "Let's go!" With that, they opened the door's and went inside. As they glanced around the interior of the small store, they noticed it was dimly lit and most of the food and medical supplies had been strewn across the ground.

"_Most likely from the intial panic..._" Spike thought as he continued looking around. All of a sudden, the both of them stopped as they heard voices coming from the back of the store.

"Other survivors?" Rainbow asked her companion as he simply shrugged in response. They then crouched down, intending to listen in on what was going on.

"Hehehe!" One voice let out a deep, gravelly laugh as if having accomplished something. "Small pony doctor trapped now!"

"I'm telling you," came a terrified voice, though much higher pitched and without a gravelly tone this time, "I don't know where they keep any gems or bits they get from here!"

"Little pony is lying!" Another gruff voice said, "I saw other guard ponies take shinies in here!"

"Well then," Yet another voice continued, still just as rough and deep as the other two, "if silly pony won't tell us now, we beat silly pony until she gives us what we want!" He said. A whimper soon followed this as the other two voices chuckled menacingly in their rough voices. However, having heard enough of this, Spike and Rainbow Dash chose this time to walk out from the shelves they were hidden behind. As Spike and Rainbow rounded the corner, they saw that three diamond dogs had a white pony with a Red Cross cutie mark with hearts at the corners of the cross, and a matching nurse hat to boot.

"Isn't that Nurse Redheart?" Spike whispered to his pegasus friend as she nodded, confirming his question. It was then that Spike and Rainbow decided to reveal their presence, but not before Spike grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the shelves.

"Hey Diamond Dorks!" Rainbow yelled out, instantly garnering the attention of the dogs from the trembling nurse pony. "Why don't you big jerks pick on somebody else!" The dogs simply snickered at her statement.

"Oh!" The biggest dog, who was obviously the leader of the group, said in mock surprise, "and who will stop us, silly blue flying pony and small purple lizard?" He said making Spike and Rainbow glare at his insults.

"Hah," Spike scoffed as he replied "and here I thought you neanderthals didn't even have enough brains to even form complete sentences, but I guess you guys proved me wrong!" This retort in turn made the diamond dogs glare this time while they simply smirked back at their adversaries.

"Big talk for such small prey!" The smallest diamond dog growled at them, about ready to charge at them, "You two are very scared if you make silly talk when outnumbered."

"Numbers don't win a battle Fido!" Rainbow said grinning as the dog growled louder.

(Dead Rising 2: Off the Record: Looter's theme starts to play)

"_Argh_! _**I will crush stupid pony and lizard**_!" He shouted angrily as he ran towards his had a plan however, as he had already undone the cap to the shampoo bottle and poured it's contents in front of him. The foolish diamond dog had no chance to avoid the slippery substance as he felt inertia carry him towards his smirking opponents.

"Wait for it!" Rainbow said getting into bucking position as the dog drew nearer.

"Almost..." Spike said in turn as he prepared his bat to swing.

"_NOW_!" They both yelled in unison as they simultaneously bucked and hit the poor diamond dog, who had been scrambling to avoid his fate, but to no avail. The force of the impact sent him sailing right into the shelves of the headache remedy section, the sign of which said "oh, that's gotta hurt!" After that was over, Spike and Rainbow turned towards the other two diamond dogs, who were obviously shocked that their comrade had gotten disposed of so quickly.

"Well now that the odds are evened out..." Spike said with a grin.

"...Let's have a little fun!" Rainbow said smirking as she flapped her wings in preparation for the fight. "I get the big one alright?" She said as she eyed her target.

"You sure you can handle it?" Spike asked jokingly.

"Psh!" Rainbow said waving him off with her hoof, "Please! This'll hardly be a warm-up!" She said as she sped off hooves-first at the group leader, who was unable to follow Rainbow's flight speed and got carried into the wall with a crash that sent boxes flying and bottles rolling.

"Well then," Spike said regaining his focus on the last remaining diamond dog. "I guess it's just you and me then?" He asked the dog, who simply gulped in response. Spike charged with a war cry as the dog yelped and ran from him. On Rainbow's side however, her opponent was putting much more effort into the fight than his lackey was currently.

"Hmph, you're stronger than I thought big guy!" Rainbow said grunting as she dodged a clumsy swing from the canine as she countered with a kick of her own, only to have it blocked.

"Heh heh heh, silly pony and lizard may have beaten other dummy dogs, but they can't beat me!" The dog said simply laughing confidently at her statement. As the battle wore on Rainbow managed to get a few good hits in on the lead dog but even with all her stamina training for the Wonderbolts, her body just couldn't match up to the energy output like the more massive diamond dogs's could. After she tried for one last aerial dive, the dog caught her and pinned her to the ground, making Rainbow cry out in pain as she felt herself slowly getting crushed by him.

"_Urgh... where the heck is Spike when you need him_?" She thought furiously trying to look for her companion, who seemed to have disappeared.

"Ha ha ha! Tonight I dine on winged pony soup!" The brute-ish canine crowed as he drew an arm back to deliver the final blow. Suddenly however, he heard a shaking of what sounded like a spray paint can, and afterwards felt a force drop onto his head. He then made the mistake of looking straight up, only to find a familiar purple dragon pointing the nozzle of a can straight at him.

"Yo what's up?" Spike asked him, casually waving as he then sprayed the contents of the can into the dogs eyes, which unfortunately for him widened in surprise.

"ARGH! Eyes _**BURN**_!" The dog yelped in pain, stumbling around as he furiously rubbed his eyelids in a futile attempt to remove the offending substance which plagued him.

"Hey Rainbow what say we finish this?" He said smiling as he helped his companion up.

"Took you long enough!" She said rolling her eyes, but returning the smile in question. Then they both ran at the diamond dog leader as Spike tripped him by swinging his bat at the dog's feet, while Rainbow swooped quickly under him and delivered a hard uppercut to their foe's jaw, instantly knocking him out. Satisfied, the duo grinned and gave each other a celebratory bro-hoof to one another. Then they turned to make sure Nurse Redheart was ok.

(Music Stops)

"Oh thank goodness you came!" She said in relief while returning to a calm attitude, "I don't know what I would've done if you two hadn't come along! Is there anything I can do to repay you?" She asked, eyes brimming with gratitude for her heroes.

"Well I mean I wouldn't mind a thank you ki- Ouch!" Spike yelped as Rainbow elbowed him in the side.

"What my friend here _means_ is to ask if there's any Ponybrex here." She said as she gave a glare to her ally, who simply gave a sheepish grin in response.

"Hm..." Nurse Redheart replied thoughtfully, "Well I think I do remember there being one in the back...now give me a minute to unlock this door here." She said as she took a key off the counter and unlocked the door. "Ah yes there it is!" She said happily from the back as she shortly came out with a bright blue box labeled "Ponybrex: One a day keeps the Zompony away!"

"Thank you so much!" Rainbow cried out in triumph as she grabbed the box from the mare's hooves. "Now back to the safe room!" She said, about to blast off before the Nurse asked Spike a question.

"Um..." She said shyly, "Do you think...it's alright if I...you know...accompany you two back there?" Asking with a cringe.

"Well sure, you didn't even have to ask!" Spike responded nobly, "Anypony is welcome there, and we'd be glad to have a nurse around to help with any injured survivors we might have!"

"Then it's settled!" Rainbow said agreeing, "now let's hurry! We've only got like thirty minutes to get back!" She said dragging the two others behind her.

"Rainbow slow down!" Spike yelped, fearing for his life as he almost saw himself crash into a shelve on the way out. After that obstacle, the rest of the way back for them was uneventful, as the zomponies didn't give them too much trouble as they had cleared a path before. They all eventually made it back to the safe room vent with fifteen minutes to spare as Spike and Rainbow ushered Redheart into the the vent door. Rainbow made a beeline for the room where she found her friends and Scootaloo, the latter of whom was looking very pale as she slowly turned her head and gave a slight smile at her older sister.

"Rainbow Dash!" She said weakly as she gave a slight cough, "You're back!"

"Of course I am kiddo!" Rainbow said warmly as she gave a soft nuzzle to her. "Now let's hurry and give you this alright?" She said as Scootaloo nodded. Rainbow then opened the box as she eyed the small syringe inside, filled with a blue liquid. "Ready?" She asked her sister tentatively as her sister nodded in response. Rainbow then gently lowered the syringe and injected the dosage of the drug as Nurse Redheart made her way over and gave a quick look over the small Pegasus filly.

"Well," Nurse Redheart said, "the drug is working, and her fever seems to be going down, so I believe she'll be just fine, now just give me a minute so I can bandage up her leg properly!" She said as all the other ponies, and dragon, gave a sigh of relief at the news.

"Thanks a lot Nurse!" Rainbow said cheerfully, already noticing her sister beginning to gain back her vibrant orange hue.

"It's no problem at all Ms. Dash!" The medical pony said cheerfully, "It's all a part of my job!"

"Well now that that's over," AppleJack said gaining the focus of everypony else, "what should we do now?"

"Well I figure our best bet is to wait here until the Princess's guard arrives." Twilight reasoned as Spike and Rainbow shook their heads in disagreement.

"Do what you guys want," Spike said, "but I need to figure out what's going on here, and why this all started." he continued as he walked towards the vent entrance.

"_Seriously_ Spike?" Twilight said groaning in frustration. "Is this about getting your story back, getting your _big_chance at fame again?" She said as Spike clenched his fists but said nothing and simply exited the room.

"Don't worry Twilight I'll go after him and make sure he's alright!" Rainbow said reassuring her book-ish friend as she began to trot towards the direction Spike went in.

"Wait Rainbow!" Twilight yelled out, making the pegasus turn. "Just...please tell him I'm sorry..." She whispered with a forlorn look on her face as a tear rolled down her face.

"Hey come on sugarcube!" AppleJack said, trotting up to Twilight and giving her a reassuring pat, "Ah'm sure he'll just need a moment ta clear his head and then he'll come back and you can apologize to him then!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie continued, "If there's one thing I know about us and our friends is that even though we get mad at each other when we say mean stuff, we'll never ever ever leave each other for good!"

"Pinkie's right!" Fluttershy said softly, but agreeing with the bubbly pink ponies statement, "Spike would never make the mistake of leaving you again, I'm sure of it!"

"Of course dear!" Rarity chimed in, "If there's one thing our little Spike-Wikey is and as always been it is loyal, and a real gentledrake." Twilight gave her friends a grateful smile as they all went into a group hug. As the hug eventually dissipated, Twilight gave a look of realization.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She said pulling out a key and dropping it into Rainbow's hoof. "I found that key in the room we were just in, it seemed to come from the maintenance section!" She informed the cyan mare.

"_Maintenance huh_?" Rainbow whispered thinking back to the door with the blue sign that she and Spike had passed previously. She then shook her head to regain focus, and headed out towards the vents, but not before telling the others to take care of Scootaloo for her, to which her friends heartily agreed. As she made her way out of the vents she found that Spike hadn't gone too far and was sitting on the staircase leading out of the mall's maintenance area. He looked quite glum and barely noticed as Rainbow went and sat by him.

"Hey Spike," Rainbow said hesitantly, "are you alright there kiddo?" It took a while for Spike to respond, but he finally gave a sigh and spoke.

"Yeah I guess so," he said gloomily, "it's just that what Twilight said makes me look like I'm some kind of fame-hungry paparazzi photographer, and I'm not!"

"Hey it's alright!" Rainbow said trying to cheer him up. "I think she was just worried about you going back out here mostly, I mean, she was pretty sad while you were gone."

"You really think so?" He asked with a hopeful smile.

"Of course!" She said, happy to get some joy out of him, "And besides," she said jokingly as she gave a cocky grin, "if you were a fame-hungry member of the press, a couple shots of me is all it would take to rocket you to stardom!"

"Oh really?" Spike said with a smirk, "I guess that would certainly make the paper's headlines '20% cooler' huh?"

"Oh quiet you!" She said playfully punching him as they both laughed together.

"So wait what is that for?" Spike asked curiously as he eyed the key that Twilight had given Rainbow.

"Hm..." Rainbow replied in thought, hoof scratching her head, "I think it's for that door over there," she said gesturing towards the door behind them.

"Huh, well let's check it out then!" Spike said leading Rainbow over to the door. The pegasus then unlocked the door as they stepped inside the room, finding it to have multiple tools of sorts and a couple of items on the shelves.

"Wow!" Rainbow said in amazement, "You'd have to be really good with tools to work with all of these!"

"Hiya guys!" Applebloom said from behind them, startling them into giving screams of surprise. This display made the little filly giggle at what she had done.

"Applebloom what are you doing here?" Spike inquired as the initial shock wore off.

"Well Twahlight and mah sister figured that I could be of some help here after they saw what these rooms were for!" She said beaming at the two.

"Well what are they for?" Rainbow said as she shrugged at the red-maned filly.

"Well lemme show ya!" She said, grabbing the items from the shelves while grabbing some other tools off the racks they were on.

(Chuck's Workbench theme plays)

Applebloom quickly got to work as Rainbow Dash and Spike simply gawked in awe at the speed and precision that the filly was working with. The filly in question soon became a blur as she used duct tape, nails, hammers, and saws like a professional while all the while humming a rock tune (the tune mentioned above) that she knew quite well. By the end of it she had a few pieces of tape stuck on her coat, and a few nails were lying idly about, but she had done it, and didn't even have a scratch on her!

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed as she handed her older friends their new, and improved, weaponry.

"Aw yeah! I like this one!" Spike said smirking as he swung his bat, which now had nails hammered point-out sticking from the head of the bat.

"This is awesome Applebloom! Thanks!" Rainbow said with glee as she tried on her MMA hoof gloves, with now had nails poking out similar to Spike's bat.

"No problem guys!" The filly said proudly, "Though ah was kinda limited on what we had ta work with here, but if you fahnd more stuff in this place, just come on over her and ah'll have Twahlight teleport me here ta see what ah kin make outta it!"

"Will do!" The recipient's of the weaponry nodded happily as they waved to their friend, who walked back towards the vent room since the maintenance room had been close by.

(Music Stops)

"Man that Applebloom sure is handy!" Spike said looking at the departing member of the Apple family.

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "She's always been pretty handy with tools and such!"

"Hey you don't think her cutie mark could be-" Spike was suddenly broken out of his train of thought as they heard Twilight's voice their ears.

"Spike! Rainbow Dash! Come quickly, we just found out something!" Twilight said, a worried tone evident in her voice.

"Alright we'll be there in a second!" Spike replied as he and Rainbow Dash sped back towards the safe room, wondering what would happen next.


	5. Case 1-1: Persecutions

As soon as Rainbow Dash and Spike arrived at the safe room, Applejack ushered them towards the room that Scootaloo and the other ponies had been in before.

"Twilight is everything alright?" Rainbow asked panting a bit, "you seemed a bit worried when you contacted us."

"Well..." Twilight said pausing before pointing towards a screen towards the back of the room, " you'd better take a look for yourself..."

"Okay, if you say so..." Rainbow said a bit thrown off by the way Twilight was acting. "_Come to think of it, everypony else here seems to be acting a bit strange..._" she thought noticing that everyone else in the room was looking at her nervously or not at all. Spike had also noticed the strange tension that surrounded him, and decided to speak his mind too.

"What's up with you guys? It's like you've seen a ghost or something!" He said a bit annoyed by the silence.

"Well Spike, just watch with Rainbow and you'll see why." Twilight assured him as he shrugged and walked over to the screen. Suddenly, static came up before flashing to a mare holding a microphone. She had a light green mane color with an orange coat that was a bit darker than Scootaloo's, and on her mane she sported a sky blue headband. "_Huh..._" Spike thought with interest, "_she's pretty cute..._" he shook his head as he hastily chastised himself for not paying attention.

"Hello everypony!" The mare greeted the viewers with a slight bow, "This is Flash Dancer reporting live from a hotel in front of the Pegasium where as you can clearly see that the situation has grown dire!" She said, emphasizing her statement by gesturing behind her. "This is the result of the outbreak that started within the Pegasium itself, however, this was not the result of a tragic accident, this was a _deliberate_ act of terrorism against our fellow ponies!" She declared passionately.

"What?!" Both Rainbow and Spike cried out in shock.

"But why would somebody do such a thing?" Rainbow said turning to her friends. However, they said nothing, which made her a bit nervous as she turned to watch the rest of the report.

"The outbreak in question was believed to be caused by a rogue pony as shown in these images here." The mare said as images began to flash on the screen, depicting a pony releasing a small cage that held several zomponies into the tunnels below the Pegasium's crowd seating entrances. However, what was strange about the pony was that...

"Rainbow Dash? Isn't that you?" Spike said bewildered as he turned to face the cyan pegasus.

"Wha- but that isn't..." Rainbow couldn't find any words at the new information she had just been processing.

"The pegasus," Flash Dancer continued, "is believed to be one of the contestant's of this year's competition: the Aero Blast Grand Prix, Rainbow Dash."

"That's not true!" Rainbow cried out desperately at the screen, wishing this all to have been some horrible nightmare.

"It is unknown what her motives have been, but the royal guard of Celestia herself is said to arrive in three days, and all questions will most likely be answered then. This is Flash Dancer, signing off!" The screen then went back to simple static as Rainbow Dash could find nothing else to say. Spike on the other hand, grimaced at this new information. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Rainbow Dash mustered up the will to speak.

"You guys believe me when I say I didn't do it right?" She said looking frantically to her friends, who at this query gained offended look on there faces.

"It's not that we don't believe ya sugercube! We know you'd never do anythin' like this!" Applejack said as she gave a reassuring pat to her rainbow maned pal, who in returned gave a sigh of relief.

"However," Rarity said speaking up, "even though _we_ know that you didn't do it, every other pony out there doesn't know that you were framed! They'll tear at you the first chance we get if you are allowed to remain..." she paused dramatically, "_**GUILTY**_!" She said as she flopped backwards, her ''fainting couch'' suddenly appearing to break her fall.

"Well just one problem though," Pinkie Pie said bouncing in place as everyone else turned to her, "we know that Rainbow didn't let all those meanie pants zomponies out, but if she didn't, then who _did_?" She said as her bouncing halted while she and the others gained a thoughtful look.

"Well, we may not know _who_ did it..." Spike said musing, "but I think I know where to start looking..." he said as a grin began to appear on his face.

"What do you mean Spike?" Twilight asked her former assistant, who was now gaining a huge grin at his idea.

"Well, Flash Dancer was at the hotel right?" Spike said as everypony waited for him to continue, "and she had to get those pictures from _somewhere_, and so if we just head over to where she was, then maybe just maybe, she can tell us who her source was and where they got those pictures from!" He said finishing as he gained a proud smile at his deduction.

"Hey you're right!" Rainbow said, her face getting a look of renewed hope on it. "If we find her then she's gotta help us out right?" Spike nodded his head as they shared a smile. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She declared speeding off towards the exit, almost performing another rainboom in her excitement. Everyone chuckled at Rainbow's sudden change in attitude as Spike began to follow his newfound partner's lead.

"Spike wait!" Twilight said as the dragon turned around.

"Oh, Twilight what's wrong?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"It's just...about what I said earlier..." she said rubbing her shoulder guiltily.

"Twilight it's ok!" Spike said, breaking her out of her mood, "I know you didn't mean it!" He said giving Twilight a small smile to which she returned.

"Really?" She asked, her hope restored that maybe he wasn't as mad at her as she thought.

"Of course Twilight!" He said as he walked over and gave her an embrace. "I know sometimes we have our little squabbles from time to time, but I'll never really stay angry at you!" He said as he felt her begin to return the hug.

"Alright Spike...just promise me you'll be careful ok? I'll keep you posted on anything Pinkie's Pinkie Sense reacts to." She said as the embrace broke off.

"Hey come on Twi!" He said giving her a smirk as he playfully ruffled her mane, "I've cover-"

"Yeah yeah you've covered wars!" Rainbow's voice yelled out from the vent. "Can we please stop being so sappy now and get a move on?"

"...wars you know." Spike finished as his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance at his friend's outburst that had destroyed the tender moment between he and Twilight. Twilight giggled as she saw his look and simply told him to get a move on before Rainbow became anymore anxious to go. Spike hugged her one last time before climbing into the vent.

**CASE 1-1: Engaged**

Objective: Find Flash Dancer at the hotel near the Pegasium

Date: September 25th, 7:00 A.M.

**TIME BEFORE ROYAL GUARD Arrives: 72:00 Hours**

"Rainbow come on!" Spike yelled at his friend in frustration, "I was having a moment with my sister/mother figure! Surely you can at least let me have that!"

"Nope! Sorry buddy!" Rainbow Dash said playfully as she stuck her tongue out at him, "too much of that sappy stuff will rot your brain out!" Spike simply shook his head as they climbed out of the vent and into the mall. "Hey by the way," Rainbow said, gaining her ally's attention, "where is that hotel located?"

"Well let's see," Spike said pulling out the map that twilight had given him. "It says that the hotel that Flash Dancer is across the 'Silver Strip.'"

"Well how do we get to the Silver Strip?"

"Hm...oh! An entrance is right across from Roy's Mart!"

"Sweet! Now let's go!" Rainbow said as she began galloping away, Spike running as fast as he could to keep up. As they neared a door that seemed to lead to another maintenance room, they heard a voice that just barely came through.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, do you hear that?" Spike asked his companion as he listened harder, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from.

"Yeah, it seems like it's coming from behind that door!" Rainbow said as they opened the door to find out. What they found however, was a hallway that lead to a maintenance room, and another path that apparently lead underground.

"Hm, it seems like the voices are coming from the underground!" Spike said as he started to go towards the hatch that lead down. However Rainbow stopped him before he could climb down.

"Hold on Spike, let's not get carried away." Chided Rainbow as she looked at the materials lying around. "Hm...i feel like we should collect some more weapons to at least be prepared for whatever is down there..."

"Good idea!" Spike said as he nodded, "We should also find a bag or something to carry any extra things we want to take."

"Alright, so let's split up and come back here." Rainbow said to her draconian friend as they temporarily parted ways. After a couple minutes they came back to the maintenance room. Spike and Rainbow Dash had managed to collect a variety of tools and weaponry, as well as some food while also getting a backpack and a saddlebag respectively. After they gathered up everything they told Twilight to send Applebloom to their location.

"Hold on, I need to know your location first!" Twilight said.

"How are we going to do that though?" Rainbow said as she had a confused look.

"Well...oh I know!" Twilight said as a lightbulb went on in her head, "Just have Spike take a picture of the surrounding area and point out the location on the map as well, and that should be enough to let me know where to send her!"

"Good thinking Twilight!" Spike said, "Alright now let's see I'll head out into the hallway and take a picture there." He walked out into the hallway and closed the door leading into the plaza just to be safe. Then he whipped out hiscamera and focused the shot.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" He called out to his partner, "strike a pose!"

"Wait what?" Rainbow said clearly not ready for a photo op, and fell over in a frantic scramble to try and look her coolest for the photo, unfortunately, Spike had taken a shot just as she fell, which did it's main job.

"Hm...Good." Spike said as he listed the photo under the "outtake" category, and the rating it received was about 250 PP.

"Hey! Could have warned me earlier you know!" Rainbow said annoyed that she had taken a bad picture.

"Oh well, let's get this sent!" Spike said grinning mischievously as he pulled up the photo to be sent.

"Spike I swear if you even think abou-" Rainbow began to glare at him, but his grin simply widened as he pushed the send button. Seconds later the both of them heard what sounded like Twilight poorly trying to stifle a laugh. "That's it!" Rainbow shouted as she tackled Spike to the ground, with the purple dragon simply laughing the entire time. However, in the midst of Rainbow's attack, they both failed to notice that Applebloom was already there.

"Um...Spahke? Rainbow Dash? Should I leave or somethin'?" The filly asked confused at the sight in front of her. This sudden appearance jolted Rainbow Dash and Spike back to reality as they both realized that they were in a...compromising position. They both looked at each other, and turned as red as Big Mac's coat as they scrambled to get untangled from one another.

"Uh...h-hey Applebloom," Rainbow said sheepishly, "how are you?"

"Ah need an adult?" Applebloom said obviously stumped on how to proceed after witnessing what had been happening.

"So um the workbench?" Spike offered as he tried shifting the subject away from any awkward encounters.

"Oh yeah the workbench!" Applebloom shook her head as she regained focus on her original task. "So uh, what have you guys got for me this tahme?" She asked as Spike and Rainbow Dash handed over their bags.

"Alright, you guys may want to wait here, things are gonna get pretty hectic in here." Applebloom warned as she closed the door behind her.

[Inside the maintenance room]

(Chuck's Workbench Theme plays)

Applebloom took a deep breath as she prepared to start working, she grabbed a couple of tools she would need off the walls while taking out one of the best tools of building known to ponies...

"Can't go wrong with a lil' duct tape!" She said to herself as she pulled out a couple rolls of the stuff. She then began searching through the bags as she thought of various weapon combos, some deadly, some useful, some were novelty items. After settling on her designs she went to work, her hooves working at a breakneck pace as she used the utmost care and precision in her work. After a while of using duct tape, nails, a saw, and a various other tools, she sighed in relief at the completion of her last creation. Smiling proudly at the work she had done she went back to get the others.

(Music stops)

[Outside the maintenance room]

"So...um...yeah..." Spike trailed off awkwardly as he scrounged around his brain to come up with some decent conversation.

"...Yeah..." Rainbow said just as awkwardly as she rubbed her neck nervously. Suddenly she smirked as a thought came in. However, her train of thought was broken as she heard the doors behind her open to reveal Applebloom with a full saddlebag and backpack.

"Well gahs!" Applebloom said handing them their stuff, "it sure was a lotta' work, but ah think it turned out quite alrahght!" She said, nodding in approval. "Spahke, with your weapons I managed to create the knife gloves, which is the boxing gloves plus the chef knives you found, the blambow, which ah made by combinin' the bow and arrow with the dynamite you found, and another spahked bat for ya!'"

"Aw yeah this stuff is awesome!" Spike said as he looked over his new toys, a single tear of joy almost coming to his eye.

"For Rainbow Dash, I used the spitball launcher and motor oil to create the Fire Spitter, the cider bottles and construction hat to make a novelty cider hat, and the wooden sword and shield plus some nails to create the Holy Arms!"

"Man it feels like Hearth's Warming Eve came early!" Rainbow shouted equally as excited as her partner was.

"Ah'm glad you guys liked em'!" Applebloom said giggling at the way they acted. "Well, ah better head back, so ah'll see ya'll later!" She waved to them as she disappeared in a poof of magic, no doubt due to Twilight's spell. A little later Spike and Rainbow Dash had stopped drooling over their new weapons enough to realize that the handy filly had left a while ago.

"How the _hay_ does that filly not have her cutie mark yet?" Spike asked his Rainbow-maned partner, who simply shrugged in response, now that they were ready to proceed, they headed towards the hatch that lead underground. Once they got to the bottom, they found themselves in a place that looked to be a warehouse of some sort. Suddenly, they heard the voices once again, and one sounded familiar.

"Hey, that sounds like Blueblood!" Rainbow said in realization.

"Hm...well this seems pretty fishy as it is, but _him_ being here just makes it even worse..." Spike said, he then saw the prince himself and another figure walk out from the ground floor, right under the catwalk that Spike was on. Spike and Rainbow Dash gasped in shock as they saw who the prince was talking to.

"Hey, it's my doppelganger from the news report!" Rainbow said, a furious look overtaking her. She was about to charge in and beat the stuffing out of both of them, but Spike stopped her.

"Rainbow don't!" Spike said as he frantically held on to her.

"Why not?! They deserve it!" She said in a loud whisper.

"Rainbow, use your head! This seems to be turning into something bigger than just the outbreak! If we want to find out what really happened here, we need to get evidence of what's happening!" He said trying to pacify her.

"Well what should we do then?" She asked with a mixture of frustration and impatience.

"Hm...you go hide in a safe spot, I'll try to see what they're talking about and get some photos while I'm at it!" Spike said as he shooed her towards a well-hidden corner of the room. She was reluctant to stand by, but she eventually agreed to wait there. After that, Spike turned his attention towards the prince and the Rainbow Dash imposter.

(Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Pause Menu 2 plays)

"Alright, gotta do this as quietly as possible..." Spike muttered to himself as he set the flash of his camera off. He then saw that Blueblood and the doppelganger were walking towards one of the aisles, and he followed, making sure to get a good angle for his shot.

"So you sure this will help us out right?" The doppelganger asked nervously as she...or he looked around wide-eyed.

"Of course!" Blueblood said reassuringly as he turned to face the Rainbow Dash look-alike. Spike snapped a quick photo of them while he had a direct side view of them talking.

"Yeah! It's a good one!" He said to himself happily as he filed it under the "special" category, the rating came out to be about 449 PP.

"In all seriousness chum," Blueblood continued, "you simply must stop worrying so much, it will take a toll on your health if it keeps up!"

"I'm sorry..." The doppelganger said sadly, "It's just that I'm really nervous about this whole thing..."

"Oh come now!" Blueblood said chuckling as he wrapped a hoof around the other pony, "Just don't let word of this little meeting get out and you'll be fine!"

"Oh ok Prince Blueblood..." The other pony said shakily, but smiled a bit, "I just feel like it was great that I got to help out with such an important job!"

"What the _hay_ are you up to Blueblood?" Spike muttered to himself as he snapped another photo, filing under "special," and getting a rating of 329 PP.

"Alright, now take this," Blueblood said a bit more quietly to his companion, "this is a pass for free roam through Canterlot, it should give you enough clearance to do what I've asked you to. Let no one but the guards see that!"

"O-okay sir..." The imposter said shakily, not realizing that Spike had snapped another photo of the them, but with the pass this time.

"_Unbelievable_...what are you up to..." Spike whispered, his mind working furiously to figure out what they could be up to. However, soon he had to move across to another catwalk as the prince and his accomplice went out of his view. As he arrived he once again whipped out his camera, becoming ever vigilant to take a photo. Luckily for the dragon turned photojournalist, Blueblood seemed to give him a good shot.

"Now you just take this," the prince said as he handed the other pony what looked like a metal briefcase,

"What is that..." Spike wondered to himself as he took another photo, this one getting him a whopping 1023 PP in the "special" category.

"It has your first payment, with a little bonus considering the job well done. The rest will follow after we are done with Canterlot." Blueblood said as if answering Spike's question.

"Oh okay Sir...thanks!" The Dash doppelganger said happily as he took the case of bits.

"Nonsense my good fellow, it is the little people like you that I admire the most!" Blueblood said as he gave the pony another pat on the back, "those who rise up to the challenge set before them!"

Spike was just about to take another picture when he accidentally knocked over a box from the shelf he had been climbing down. The noise startled Blueblood and the other pony as their heads whipped around to face the direction he was in.

"Aw horsefeathers..." Spike said as he dove into a box in an attempt to hide.

"Hm...I suppose that it may have been a rat... filthy creatures..." Blueblood said in disgust as the other pony nodded in agreement. After hearing them trot away Spike slowly climbed out of the box and signaled to Rainbow Dash that the coast was clear.

(Music stops)

"So what'd you find out?" Rainbow asked him curiously as he showed her the photos.

"Well," he said starting to explain, "it seems that this pony that pretended to be you did indeed start the outbreak here...however, it turns out that Blueblood was _paying_ him to do it!" Spike said, disgusted at the actions of the two he had seen.

"I knew he was up to no good!" Rainbow said furiously.

"That's not all though...it seems that they plan to start another outbreak in Canterlot, probably after the Royal Guard arrives here..." Spike said as he continued his theory.

"Well, then we have to stop them before then!" Rainbow said with a determined look on her face.

"Well, for now we should let them go about their business until we can find out more, but we should probably get back to finding that hotel and clearing your name!" Spike said as he shut his camera off.

"Right, let's do this!" Rainbow said in a mixture of excitement and anticipation. With this new information in their minds they set off to go find Flash Dancer, and hopefully a way to prove Rainbow Dash's innocence...

**Time before Royal Guard arrives: 71:12:23 Hours**


End file.
